Madrid - Diego Simeone has apologised for clutching his genitals to celebrate during Atletico Madrid's 2-0 win over Juventus on Wednesday.

After the match, Simeone said his gesture, directed towards the crowd at the Wanda Metropolitano after Jose Gimenez scored Atletico's opener, was to recognise the courage shown in their victory.

But at a press conference on Saturday, the Argentinian expressed regret for his behaviour.

"I don't look for excuses, I just want to apologise for what I did during the match," Simeone said.

"To the people who have been offended by the gesture, which was clearly a bad way to express what I felt about my players and was in no way directed at Juventus."

Atletico play Villarreal in La Liga on Sunday after what was arguably their best performance of the season against Juve, with a place in the Champions League quarter-finals now firmly within their grasp.

But Atleti's form has been less impressive in the league, where two defeats in their last three games have left them seven points adrift of Barcelona.

"The players are people, they are human, they do not respond in the same way every day," Simeone said.

"You always want to play with the same intensity but there are days when everything goes the way you want and others when it is more complicated.

"When you play badly, you have to find a way. That is the difference between the great players and the not-so-great ones."